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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cold — not warm
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. fine — all right
  8. kid — to tease
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. rest — a break
  11. last — to go on
  12. season — of the year
  13. shower — to wash
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. last — final
  16. shower — rain
  17. last — finally
  18. rest — what's left
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. kid — child
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fine — high quality
  24. fine — a penalty

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com